April 26-28, 2001 at Franklin Field, Philadelphia PA

107th Penn Relays

The oldest and biggest track meet in the country.  Although college and Olympic level events are prominent, the high school events bring the majority of the thousands of athletes to the Penn Relays.  International flavor is provided by Jamaica, which sends its best every year followed by a  huge rooting section, and Ireland, which has owned the boys DMR in recent years.  Nearly 100,000 fans attend the 3 days of action, with more than 40,000 jamming the old Franklin Field grandstands for the Saturday races.  It is officially called the Penn Relays Carnival, and a carnival atmosphere prevails on the streets surrounding Franklin Field on the U. of Penn campus -- scores of souvenir and food stands, with barbecue smoke filling the air and throngs of sweatsuit clad athletes, fans and coaches filling the sidewalks.


St. Jago JAM (J) anchor passes A.P. Randolph soph Natasha Hastings in 4x400 heat.
See what happened next.

Penn pics
More than 100 action pictures from the Penn Relays with text, splits, and quotes: Alan Webb and South Lakes VA win DMR and 4x800 - Boys & Girls NY wins girls DMR and record 4x800 - Bobby Lockhart's easy boys mile - happy warrier Erin Donohue fixes hair and kicks at 300 meters in girls mile - Candice Baucham owns girls triple jump - pulled muscle costs Oakland Mills MD in boys 4x100 - Krystle Moss redeems herself in girls high jump - Air Time girls (Shepard and Lederman) dominate pole vault - Charles Millioen looks like a million in boys 3000 - Paige Miller breaks up 3-way battle in girls 3000 - Holmwood Tech wins 3rd relay title in girls 4x400 - 3 NY teams (A.P. Randolph, Boys & Girls, and Bellport) win girls 4x800 heats - Jamaica recaptures girls 400m hurdles with record run by Melaine Walker - and Donna on the Side capturing the carnival atmosphere outside the stadium.

 

Anatomy of Ritz' 5k at Penn
Rockford MI sr Dathan Ritzenhein ran a sensational 13:51.69 5k - moving him to 2nd on the all-time list ahead of Prefontaine and Virgin - at the Penn Relays. New photos, splits, interviews of Ritz' Penn Relays 5k - "He can go faster," says Rockford Coach Brad Prins.

South Lakes 7:41.75 adds 4x800 to DMR title -
Camden 3:11.30! - El Dorado 40.99 - Dwight Ruff 50.47 MR

Smith passes Holmwood Tech
Webb finishes up
  • Penn Relays Day 3 - Saturday
    • Boys 4x800 - Second gold for Alan Webb and South Lakes VA - Richard Smith zooms to the lead on 1:52.7 third leg and Alan Webb finishes it off with a 1:49.1 anchor split, fastest ever run at the Penn Relays. South Lakes finished 5 seconds ahead of Holmwood Tech of Jamaica. Photo Story
    • Boys 4x100 - El Dorado, Trinidad 40.99 just edges Oakland Mills MD 41.42 as Kyle Farmer MD pulls up at the finish. Photo Story
    • Boys 4x400 - Camden NJ runs away from a fine finals field (6 teams under 3:20) with 3+-second win in 3:11.30.
    • Boys 400H - Dwight Ruff, Camden NJ 50.47, 8th fastest all time and 5th fastest individual, taking down Rickey Harris' Penn Relays record.
    • Boys Field Events: I. Perfection Harris NY 24-1.75w, Nicholas Neufville JAM 48-8.25, Brian Mondschein PA 15-9, Sam Segond PA 183-8 DT
  • Penn Relays Day 2 - Friday
    • Dathan Ritzenhein runs 13:51.69 5k -
      2nd best US high school time ever!

      Rockford MI sr finished second (below) in Olympic Development race against older runners under lights Friday night and also moved into 2nd on the all time list behind the record 13:44 by Gerry Lindgren in 1964. He went ahead of Steve Prefontaine (13:52.8 in 1969), John Zishka (13:55.65 1980), and Craig Virgin (13:58.25 1973) as he expanded the number of prep sub-14 5k runners to five. His en route times were the fastest so far this season for 3000 meters (8:20.2) and 3200 meters (8:53.6). Ritz' time was an oh-so-frustrating 0.19 off the qualifying standard for the USATF Outdoor Championships June 21-24 at Eugene OR. Ritzenhein's next race is next Friday at the Roosevelt Memorial meet in Dayton OH at 3200 meters. The meet management is considering changing it to 2 miles to give Ritzenhein a shot at the HS 2-mile record (8:36.3 Jim Nelson 1979). Ritz 5k
    • Boys & Girls NY sets new national girls 4x800 meter relay record of 8:52.84 (was 8:54.88 by Columbia NJ 1997), even though finishing 2nd to 4-straight Penn champion Holmwood Tech JAM 8:50.02. Boys & Girls 4x800
    • Alan Webb (below) and South Lakes VA have a double good day winning the distance medley and running the fastest 4x800 qualifier. The DMR was a relatively easy tour which Webb finished off with a routine, for him, 4:04 anchor split for a team time of 9:59.66, a new Penn Relays meet record and sixth best US high school time ever. In the 4x800 prelim in the morning, Webb was all out with a 1:50.2 anchor to rally South Lakes VA to 0.2 win over John Jay NY in 7:47.16, fastest of 12 qualifiers for finals Saturday. Photo Story with 12 pictures

     

    • Bobby Lockhart VA pulled away from Bobby Curtis KY late to win the mile in 4:11.45, avenging his loss to Curtis at the Nike Indoor Classic. Shane Stroup MD 4:13.51 beat out Curtis 4:14.51 for second. Bobby Lockhart's Mile
    • Boys 3000: Charles Millioen NY 8:21.04 surged last to win a great duel with Stephen Haas NC 8:22.83. Boys 3000
    • Girls 4x100 Championship: Holmwood Tech 44.89 led a 1-2-3 Jamaican finish, with Poly Long Beach CA 45.83 and A.P. Randolph NY 46.16 the fastest Americans.
    • Girls 4x400 Championship: Holmwood Tech JAM ran a sensational 3:34.75 to break the Penn Relays record by 3 seconds and ring up its third championship of the day.
  • Penn Relays Day 1 - Thursday
    • Boys & Girls NY routs DMR field in wire-to-wire win. Bellport NY 2nd, San Lorenzo Valley CA 3rd - Other stars of Thursday; Boys & Girls NY 8:57.91 - Natasha Hastings and A.P. Randolph NY 3:39.90 - Erin Donohue NJ 4:54.15 - Paige Miller PA 3000 - Candice Baucham CA 42+ triple jump again - Samantha Shepard MA 12-6.75 - Krystle Moss VA 5-8 - Jamaicans dazzle in 4x100 prelims. Day 1 photos, results, quotes.
   

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